Fluid distributing apparatus



Nov. 11, 1947. v w. PHALQR 2,430,7$1

FLUID DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS Filed NOV. 19, 1943.

\T Z 5 1 I A f r 6 I .9)

. I INVIAINTOR.

BY 'IT Patented Nov. 11, 1947 E EIZCET;

This invention relates ltoimprovements. in fluid l.

distributing. apparatus, having -.particular lreiers ence tofluidldistributors utiliz'ingperforate spray,v bars from which fiuidslor fluid-like materials. are K discharged for distributionflover 7 adjacent .surl-rfaces. In. a more \specific aspect. my invention-c is concerned with- .animproved fluid distributor for use on.-.asph'alt road-rolling .machines and adapted for wetting the. peripheral surfaces of: the.

road-engagingrell's' thereof;

In rolling asphalt! or: similarwroad surfaces, it is necessary to .keep. the. rolls. ofethe wroad-rollers wet during-I the i operationw Atnpreseniga this. is'.

accomplishedeby placingua perforate pipe or spray.

bar, connected centrally. of .its'slength with a water-containingetank; adjacent. .to and inpare allel relationnwi-th ithesupper. peripheral surface of the road-engaging rollf so. that when .Water is.

supplied fr'om the :tank tothe perforate di'strib uting pipe, the fluid .is'... distributed over the. pe-..

ripheral surface of the roll torenderits. operation c moreeffective :and .efii'cient in therollinggof; ias-. phalt roads particularly.

It frequently happens in the i ope-ration of such rollerssthatuthedistributing pipe and its. associated rollrvill not assume normalhorizontal 7 positions,- as when the roller is operating at the.

side. of a .crownedroad, or in other positions in which the distributing pipe assumes :apositio'n of acute angular: relationship with respect .to a true horizontal plane; Under such .conditions,

Water admitted .tothe centeroflthe pipe news toward its low .side rwith the resultthat only, a portion of- -the associatedvrollreceives it's intended fluid-supply.

It is; therefore an obj ecti'of the present invention to .providean improved fluid distributor for such rolling machines wherein anormal and adeto wet the roller.

A small and regulated amount of wateruwillserve-this-purpose in contrast to such amount as might be necessary if the water was used as ablast.or-rsprayunder pressure to clean the surface of the roller.

It is another object of the invention to pro vide a fluid distributor which comprises an inlet pipe having a centrally disposed "fluid inlet and an outlet pipe arranged below-the inlet pipe in substantially parallel order therewith, said= pipes being connected by. a pair of crossed fluideconducting pipes which are :unitedat their ends-with the end portionssofl the inlet. and butlelt. pipes, the said crossed pipes serving to conduct fluidtotheo highest: end\ ofutheooutlet. .pipelwhen the latter occupies. an angularwposition. .to the. horizontal, so that the. fluid will flow through; the iull" length. of the perforate outlet pipe ..at.- al1;tii'nesto wet properly the=peripheralisurfaces o-ithe associated L rollthroughoutitslength';.

For afurtherhunderstanding of. the invention, referenceois to. be theme the .iollo-wing (description' and the. ,accompanying drawing, wherein-2 v Fig} 1 .isihal-frontielevational.IvieW. of the fluid;

distributor comprising ,the presentlinvention, an 4 associatedlltank and l'rroll lbeingflsh'own by the;

.broken lines Fig...2.is -a similar view disclosing the distributor. when positionedhat ianhangle to-the horizontal.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, theinumeralnl :designatesthe. centrally disposed threaded (nipple-i of the time}; spine .2 of my, improved .fluidmdistr ibutor.., Thenipple. is; adapted to. be connectedewithsaawaterr supplying tank TI, there being at manually; controlledwahie 26b, for regulating thegravitational 'fiow of. the fluid from theetankwinto'the Di-De 2; Thespipe 2may. be formedofromcstandard Llmetallic tubing ,and-Ih'asv thee-ends thereofmclosecl by y means of suitable caps. Disposedwbeldw and I inhpa'rall'el relation with the inlet. pipe v2 isoanioutl'et pipe 5, the latter being, arranged.w immediately, over the roadengaging rollRFof award-rolling machine. The ends" of the pipe 5 "are also "closedby' means of the icapsiindi'cate'd at 3 anddand the under side of the outlet pipe-or sprayhar 5 is -providedwith spaced perforations 6, whereby fluidissuingfromthese perforations is distributed over the periph' eral 'surface-"of' the -roll'BE. Uniting the pipes 2 and 5 is a pair of pressed fldid condu'cting pipes d. the latter ioei-ngerranged in the order ofan X" so thatthe-"same extend' in acute angularrelationship to-the pipes '2 and 55'- The upper ends" of the 'pipes l are' weldedor otherwise joined. as P at l "and'B to the outer end portions of the inletpipeifwhi'le the lower ends of -the pipesl are similarly We1de'd* or otherwise "joined with the OlltGPZ'BIld portions ofthe pipe 5 adiacer-it' to the end-closures 3 andl' i This pipe-system-Z, l andfl 5 is suitably' supported-in 'any'de'sired manner: imconnectidnwiththe tank T' orfr'ame' structure 11 F of a standard road-rolling machine. This av;- rangement; makes it'pOSsihle' -t0' provide -water tothe highesten'dpf the sprinkler pipe regardless as g to the .volume :of- Water passing through the Pipe 1.".

Initheruse'of. the deYicai-whenthe road-rolling machine assumes a somewhat tilted position, as when operating over the side of a transversely crowned roadway, and as depicted in Fig. 2, water flowing into the inlet pipe 2 passes to the lower end thereof and enters the pipe 4 joined as at 8 with the lower end of the pipe 2. The angularity of this pipe 4 is such as to provide for the gravitational flow of the fluid to the upper end 9 of the spray bar 5, so that the fluid will pass gravitationally through the entire length of the pipe or bar 5, passing through the perforations 6 thereof and distributing itself over the full length of the peripheral surface of the roll R. If the angularity of the system should be the reverse of that illustrated in Fig. 2, the latter will flow through the other of the pipes 4, as will be readily understood. By this arrangement, the roll will be adequately and properly wetted regardless of its operating positions. It will be observed that my improved distributor is fully automatic and requires no moving parts in its operation.

One of the most valuable features of this apparatus resides in the conservation of water that the apparatus makes possible. As illustrated, the tank, valve, sprinkler pipe and diagonal connections are used in combination with a road roller. It is important that excess flow, waste of water be avoided and this is especially true in the use of a roller. The roller cannot be constantly returned to a source of supply for the refilling of the water tank. It is characteristic of such apparatus that the discharge flow is gravitational. Regulated flow to a minimum is desirable and this is the function of the valve 2a, which is set to permit enough water to pass to wet the roller while yet avoiding unnecessary volume.

While I have specifically described the apparatus as being adapted to the operation of wetting the rolls of road-rollers, nevertheless, it may be usefully employed in any analogous capacity in which a perforate fluid conductor is present as, for example, in the operation of spray bars used in distributing heated asphalt or other bituminous compounds of a fluid-like nature on highways. .Also, while I have disclosed a single practical embodiment of my improved distributor, it will be understood that the same is subject to certain structural modification without departing from its essential operating principles, and I therefore reserve the right to employ all such modifications that may be said to fall within the scope of the following claims.

Iclaim: 1

1. In a road roller, a frame, a road-engaging roller rotatably carried by said frame, a watercontaining tank mounted on said frame and disposed above said roller in spaced relation thereto, said tank being provided with a water outlet, a straight distributing pipe extending substantially parallel to the axis of said roller and located adjacent the surface of the roller for distributing fluid from openings located at spaced intervals along its length to the surface of the roller, a primary supply pipe positioned above said straight pipe and substantially parallel thereto and in ported communication with said water outlet of said tank, a pair of secondary supply pipes connected to and extending diagonally downwardly from said primary supply pipe and each secondary supply pipe providing ported communication between the primary supply pipe adjacent one end thereof and said distributing pipe adjacent the end thereof farthest removed from the point at which the respective secondary pipe is connected to said primary supply pipe, a control valve between said tank and said primary supply pipe for regulating the flow of water to said primary and secondary pipes and distributing pipe.

2. In a road roller, a frame, a road-engaging roller rotatably carried by said frame, a watercontaining tank mounted on said frame and disposed above said roller in spaced relation thereto, said tank being provided with a water outlet, said water outlet being located substantially centrally the length of said roller, a straight distributing pipe extending substantially parallel to the axis of said roller for distributing fluid from openings located at spaced intervals alon its length, a primary supply pipe positioned above said straight pipe and substantially parallel thereto and in ported communication with said water outlet of said tank, a pair of secondary supply pipes connected to and extending diagonally downwardly from said primary supply pipe and each secondary supply pipe providing ported communication between the primary supply pipe adjacent one end thereof and said distributing pipe adjacent the end thereof farthest removed from the point at which the respective secondary pipe is connected to said primary supply pipe, a control valve between said tank and said primary supply pipe for regulating the flow of water to said primary and secondary pipes and distributing pipe, said secondary supply pipes being rigid and substantially straight and diagonally crossed with respect to each other.

3. In a road roller, a frame, a road-engaging roller rotatably carried by said frame, a watercontaining tank mounted on said frame and disposed above said roller in spaced relation thereto, said tank being provided with a water outlet, said water outlet being located substantially 4 centrally the length of said roller, a straight distributing pipe extendin substantially parallel to the axis of said roller and located adjacent the surface of the roller for distributing fluid from openings located at spaced intervals along its length .to the surface of the roller, a primary supply pipe positioned above said straight pipe and substantially parallel thereto and in ported communication with said water outlet of said tank, a pair of secondary supply pipes connected to and extending diagonally downwardly from said primary supply pipe and each secondary supply pipe providing ported communication between the primary supply pipe adjacent one end thereof and said distributing pipe adjacent the end thereof farthest removed from the point at which the respective secondary pipe is connected to said primary supply pipe, a control valve associated with said tank and said primary supply pipe for regulating the flow of water to said primary and secondary pipes and distributing pipe, said secondary supply pipes being rigid and substantially straight and diagonally crossed with respect to each other.

WILLIAM H. PHALOR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

